He has been vegetarian since just before the Beatles went to India. Ringo came home from India early because he couldnt handle the Indian food. He had a lot of stomach problems when he was a kid and so the spicy food didnt agree with him. His idea of vegetarian food was things like beans on toast and fried eggs.

Ringo Starr leaves India

6.00pm, Friday 1 March 1968 (43 years ago)

Less than two weeks after their arrival, Ringo Starr and his wife Maureen left Rishikesh to return to England.

The couple were unhappy at having to spend time away from their
children. Additionally, Ringo found the spicy food disagreed with him -
an intolerance caused by a childhood bout of peritonitis. He had brought
a consignment of baked beans with him, and feasted on
especially-prepared eggs while in Rishikesh, but found it not enough to
entice him to stay.

It's all a bit hard to remember now. I was only there for two weeks,
then I left. I wasn't getting what I thought I would out of it.

The food was impossible for me because I'm allergic to so many
different things. I took two suitcases with me, one of clothes and the
other full of Heinz beans (there's a plug for you). Then one morning the
guys who were dealing with the food said, 'Would you like some eggs?'
And I said, 'Oh yeah, sure,' and the next morning they said it again. I
thought, 'Oh yeah, great - things are looking up.'

Then I saw them burying the shells. That was the first of several
incidents that made me think that it was not what I thought it would be.
You weren't supposed to have eggs inside this religious and spiritual
ashram. I thought: 'What do you mean, you're burying the shells? Can't
God see that too?'

We came home because we missed the children. I wouldn't want anyone
to think we didn't like it there. I said it was like Butlins holiday
camp, we had learnt by then that you could say anything and they'd print
it. It was a good experience - it just didn't last as long for me as it
did for them.

Ringo Starr
Anthology

Additionally, Maureen had a phobia of flies, which were all but unavoidable in Rishikesh.

Ringo came home early; he couldn't stand the food and
his wife couldn't stand the flies. It was understandable; he was a very
British lad. There were curries and spicy food - and he has a stomach
that gets upset easily (probably due to the peritonitis when he was a
kid). Maureen didn't like the flies - if there was one fly in the room,
she would know exactly where it was at any given time. I remember her
once being trapped in a room because there was a fly over the door. So
obviously conditions in Rishikesh were not ideal for them.

"When Ringo went to Hunter Davies' for dinner one day, he warned Davies
that the Beatles were vegetarians now. Davies' wife, Margaret Forster,
cooked a vegetarian meal for him, but when Ringo arrived he explained
that although he was vegetarian he didn't actually like vegetables and
would rather have beans on toast!" [Source: "The Beatles, Football and
Me" - Hunter Davies]

Despite Bruvs many quotes ,I'm sure I read that he'd fairly recently become vegetarian,like last few years it was because of his stomach problems though.Of course a vegie who's worth £150 million probably doesnt worry too much about getting all the right nutrients I should imagine a minion sorts that out for him

a lot of brits and u.s. guys that i saw here had problems with olive oil,a lot of them can't tolerate them on salads ecc while they prefer butter which is a real shit if you put them on some food where it shouldn't be used (fishes ecc)...if a lot of them can't handle some oil i would really like to see their face when they eat something spicy

donovan5 wrote:Despite Bruvs many quotes ,I'm sure I read that he'd fairly recently become vegetarian,like last few years it was because of his stomach problems though.Of course a vegie who's worth £150 million probably doesnt worry too much about getting all the right nutrients I should imagine a minion sorts that out for him

donovan5 wrote:Despite Bruvs many quotes ,I'm sure I read that he'd fairly recently become vegetarian,like last few years it was because of his stomach problems though.Of course a vegie who's worth £150 million probably doesnt worry too much about getting all the right nutrients I should imagine a minion sorts that out for him

One of the articles I quoted from was written in 1968

Yeah I know what I meant was 68 was just a vegetarian phase because of the Indian trip,and that when they got back to the UK they were probably soon back on the sausage and chips.Later on of course Paul went Veggie and maybe George not sure about John though.Of course theres every chance I'm completely wrong about it.

Lennon went vegetarian in about '66-67.
Harrison went vegetarian in about '67.
McCartney and Starr went vegetarian in '68 around the time of the India trip but it doesnt seem clear if this was before or during the trip. Both McCartney and Starr didnt find the spicy Indian food to their tastes and I think Ringo in particular had problems with it.

McCartney went back to meat eating some time after the India trip. He eventually moved onto his farm in Scotland with Linda McCartney where they raised various animals which they slaughtered and ate. Some time in the late 70s the McCartneys stopped eating meat and seems to have stayed vegetarian since.

Lennon occasionally ate meat in the late 60s and throughout the 70s. Lennon and Ono were on a mainly macrobiotic diet. The macrobiotic diet can include meat and fish.

I think Harrison stayed vegetarian for life.

Starr ate meat once or twice a year during the 60s but I dont know if he still does. Either way it's negligible.

I dont know what their dairy and egg consumption was but I know Starr was eating eggs in the 60s.

If you are drinking whole milk and/or eating eggs, you may as well be eating meat because it's the same proteins and fats

I imagine that they became vegetarian in India as they wanted to practice "ahimsa" which means non violence or not killing any living creature. Maharishi's ashram in Rishikesh only served vegetarian meals as would be served to Brahmins.
Indian Sikhs may eat meat as they are the warrior caste.

I did. When living at Maharishi's ashram in India they would have only eaten vegetarian food.http://www.enotes.com/topic/The_Beatles_in_Rishikesh
The 60s were a fun time. My wife and I were very much involved with TM then and my wife cooked for Maharishi. He only ate one meal a day, usually a glass of milk and chick pea dahl. My wife and I drove him to Niagara Falls for a look and I travelled with him to Expo 67 in Montreal where he lectured and we all had a meal in the Indian Pavillion. The rice was covered with silver foil which was part of the meal! Flutist Paul Horn who made a popular album there is a friend. He used to live in Victoria but now is married to Anne Mortifee and lives on Cortes Island BC.

That was a stop over on their way back from the Philippines They got taken on a short sightseeing tour by some British Airways people.

Weds 6th of July 1966. Arrived in Delhi. Sneaked out of the back exit of the hotel for a little shopping trip in Delhi.
Thursday 7th of July 1966. Sightseeing trip with British Airways. They saw some camels drawing water.
Friday 8th of July 1966. Flight back to England.

Just accept The Beatles history instead of trying to twist it to suit your own agenda.